Editing Romani language (section)

== Phonology ==
The following is the core sound inventory of Romani. {{highlight|Gray phonemes|#CCC}} are only found in some dialects.

Loans from contact languages often allow other non-native phonemes.{{sfn|Matras|2006|loc=The sound system}}

===Consonants===
The Romani sound system is not highly unusual among European languages. Its most marked features are a three-way contrast between unvoiced, voiced, and aspirated stops, and the presence in some dialects of a second rhotic {{angbr|ř}}.{{sfn|Matras|2006|loc=The sound system}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Consonants{{sfn|Matras|2006|loc=The sound system}}
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
!colspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-al.]]<br>/[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!colspan=2| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan=3| [[Plosive]]/<br>[[Affricate]]
! {{small|[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|t͡s}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{grapheme|č}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
| {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} {{grapheme|dž}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]}}
| {{IPA link|pʰ}}
| {{IPA link|tʰ}}
|
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃʰ}} {{grapheme|čh}}
| {{IPA link|kʰ}}
|
|
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Fricative]]
! {{small|[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
|
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|x}}
|
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! {{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|v}}
|
| {{IPA link|z}}
|style="background:#CCC;"| {{IPA link|ʒ}} {{grapheme|ž}}
|
|
|
|-
!colspan=2| [[Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|
|-
!colspan=2| [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|colspan=4 style="background:#CCC;"| {{IPA link|rː}}, {{IPA link|ɽ}}, {{IPA link|ɻ}}, {{IPA link|ʀ}} {{grapheme|ř}}{{efn|Only retained in some dialects. Realized as uvular {{IPAblink|ʀ}}, long trill {{IPAblink|rː}}, or retroflex {{IPAblink|ɽ}} {{IPAblink|ɻ}}.}}
|
|}
{{notelist}}

Eastern and Southeastern European Romani dialects commonly have palatalized consonants, either distinctive or allophonic.{{sfn|Matras|2006|loc=The sound system}}

In some varieties such as Slovak Romani, at the end of a word, [[Final obstruent devoicing|voiced consonants become voiceless]] and aspirated ones lose aspiration.<ref name="mluvnice"/> Some examples:

{| class="wikitable"
! word final
! mid word
|-
| {{lang|rom|gad}}<br>{{IPA|[ɡat]}}<br>{{gloss|shirt}}
| {{lang|rom|gada}}<br>{{IPA|[ɡada]}}<br>{{gloss|shirts}}
|-
| {{lang|rom|ačh!}}<br>{{IPA|[at͡ʃ]}}<br>{{gloss|stop!}}
| {{lang|rom|ačhel}}<br>{{IPA|[at͡ʃʰel]}}<br>{{gloss|(he, she) stops}}
|}

===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Vowels{{sfn|Matras|2006|loc=The sound system}}{{Sfn|Matras|2002|p=58-59}}
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
|style="background:#CCC;"| {{IPA link|ɨ}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
|style="background:#CCC;"| {{IPA link|ə}}
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
| {{IPA link|a}}
|
|}

Vowel length is often distinctive in Western European Romani dialects.{{sfn|Matras|2006|loc=The sound system}}

===Stress===
Conservative dialects of Romani have final stress, with the exception of some unstressed affixes (e.g. the vocative ending, the case endings added on to the accusative noun, and the remoteness tense marker).{{sfn|Matras|2006|loc=The sound system}} Central and Western European dialects often have shifted stress earlier in the word.{{sfn|Matras|2006|loc=The sound system}}